Removable-bridgework attachment



A ril' 1 1924.

I: STERN Q REMOVABLE BRIDGEWORK ATTACHMENT Filed A ril 199. i521 aa wwtoz Isidore 32%? ann ISIDORE STERN, O F NEVV YORK, N. Y.

REMOVABLE-BRTDGEWO B-K ATTACHMENT.

Application filed April 19, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ismonn STERN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve.

ments in Removable-Bridgework Attachments, of which the following is a specifica tion.

This invention relates to dentistry and es pecially to removable bridge-work; and more particularly it relates to adjustable removable bridge-work attachments.

An object of this invention is to produce a novel and improved removable bridgework attachment which is adjustable to take up wear, occasioned thru continued use due to removal and replacement, so that the bridge will remain firmly in position within ones mouth.

It is likewise an object to produce an at-' tachment for removable bridge-work which has an improved construction to admit of adjustment by using a suitable spreading tool, such as a knife blade, so that the attachment may be adjusted by the wearer, and increased in thickness, its walls remaining parallel, to lit the bridge attachment into the mouth so that it will not be displaced from its position and have all loose-- ness and play eliminated.

My bridgework attachment is an improvement over the art in respect to its adjustability, because the head may be expanded, thickened or made larger without losing the parallelism of the head surfaces. This feature is a distinct advantage because the head fits back in the socket with surface contact and not point or linecontact. There are numerous adjustable denture attachments in the art, but their engaging sur-,

faces, when bent or expanded to a new position, loose their parallelism and become tapered or thinner at one end which produces looseness when the attachment is in-.

, serted in the socket. My improved socket overcomes such disadvantage, and when its head is expanded, its walls remain parallel,

and it'fits into the socket with all the surface area actually'in contact with the socket surface area, thusproducing a close fitting dental attachment. g

It is known that the advantages of removable bridge-work lie in the fact that the bridge maybe so constructed and placed in Serial No. 462,575.

the mouth that slight relative movement may exist between the bridgework attachment itself and the sound teeth acting as piers points of support, to the end that the disadvantages of the immovable and fixed type of bridge-work is overcome; and furthermore the bridge may be removed to be cleaned which maintains the parts in more sanitary condition than heretofore possible with the old style fixed bridge permanently mounted in the mouth.

I will now describe an embodiment of my invention, and reference is made to the drawings wherein Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of removable bridge-work embodying the invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a cluster view of the denture attachment, there being shown the three major projectionsf-namely, a top, back and a side view of the part.

Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the denture attachment after having been slightly adjusted by expanding the lamina, wings or leaves of the web, the said attachment being shown as manufactured and prior to its connection with bridge parts.

A denture attachment constructed in ac cordance with the plans of this invention comprises a T-shaped part, the said part more particularly comprising an integrally made shankand web. The web, or head part of the T-shaped denture, comprises a plurality of wings, leaves or laminae capable of being bent out or expanded to slightly increase the structural thickness of the head whereby it compensates for wear by taking out the clearance existing between the supporting sockets and the bridge part.

Referring further to the drawings for a detailed construction of the denture attachment, there is shown the permanent or pier teeth 5 havinginlays 6. Each inlay 6 is prepared in the side of the permanent sup- .port teeth 5 and conforms to the contour of .ticularly forms the. improvement comprising my invention, a further and more detailed description of which is hereinafter given.

The denture part or removable bridgework attachment D comprises a shank 15 integrally made in connection with a web or head comprising the leaves or laminae 16, 17 and 18. The webis formed by making it with the number of leaves or laminae integrally joined at the opposite edges of the said laminae. The web or head part is thus formed by providing it with splits or planes of cleavage which produce a laminated construction. When the attachment is manufactured the web or head part of the denture D is flat and compressed to the extent that the parallel planes of cleavage are not apparent but become so by the use of a thin edged tool such as a knife to open up the outer leaves 16 and 18 by bending them slightly on the central leaf 17 This particular construction of denture parts provides a simplified and adequate means for overcoming the difficulty of looseness which characterizes older types of bridge-work having no adjustable facilities. By expanding the web laminae with a tool such as a knife edge until the denture assumes the opened up shape shown in Figure 3, the denture is made to fit more tightly into the socket inasmuch as the thickness of the web is slightly increased to take out the clearance between the web and socket, arising through wear.

A particular feature of this denture attachment resides in the fact that surface contact is obtained between the tube or socket 7, and the head or web of the denture part. This surface contact is brought about by virtue of the fact that the two outer leaves or web laminae 16 and 18 maintain their parallelism when slightly opened or expanded. The outer parallel surfaces of the laminae 16 and 18 always remain parallel during and after adjustment, fit into the socket with surface contact because the expanding or enlargement of the web takes place equally on each side of the central laminae 17 by slightly bending the outer parts 16 and 18 out from the central laminae. Therefore this bridge-work attachment is capable of being more snugly fitted and retained in proper masticating position and relation with the pier teeth because its head expands in thickness and becomes larger under the prizing or opening force of a tool inserted in the planes of cleavage, yet always retaining its original front and back surface parallelism of the front and back web walls. My invention is new in this respect because older devices, when adjusted, become tapered and are no longer parallel which causes the bridge to become looser and looser as the size of the head is increased, thus producing line or point contact which causes insecure and loose fits.

To properly adjust and increase the thickness of the head of the attachment, one should insert a prizing tool, such as a thin blade, in first one plane of cleavage followed by slightly opening the leaves, after which he places the tool in the other plane of cleavage and spreads it an equal amount so that the outer surfaces of the walls 16 and 18 still remain substantially parallel.

Though I have described and shown one embodiment of my invention. 1 do not limit myself thereto. but claim a right of protection as to the obvious changes in design and construction which come within the scope of my invention. v

Having thus described my invention what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patcut is:

1. A denture attachment for removable bridge work of the type employing a socket to support the bridge parts, a shank by which the denture attachment is anchored to the bridge, a web formed integral with the shank, a. plurality of expandable parallel leaves integrally made on the web and capable of being expanded to uniformly increase the width dimension of the web and leaves whereby the attachment maybe enlarged to snugly fit into the socket with the leaves remaining parallel.

2. A denture attachment for removable bridge work of the kind employing a socket to receive the attachment, a shank by which the attachment is anchored to a bridge, a head made on the shank whereby the parts are T-shapc in structure, and the said head of the T-shaped part being split from opposite sides in planes of parallel cleavage to produce a plurality of leaves which may be bent and maintained parallel to enlarge the head and secure a tight lit in the socket.

A denture attachment for removable bridge-work of the kind having a socket to support the bridge parts, a shank by which the attachment is anchored to the bridge, a web made on the shank and having flat parallel surfaces and being comparatively thin in structure, said web being split or cleft one from each edge inwardly toward the other edge to produce.three thin laminae which are separable one from another by cleavage to increase the structural thickness of the web to make the attachment fit more tightly into the socket.

A. A denture attachment for removable bridgework of the type employing sockets to receive the attachment, comprising a shank by which the attachment is anchored to a bridge, a thin wall made integral on the shank, a second thin wall integrally formed on the edge of the first wall, and a third wall integrally formed on the edge of the second wall to produce a head having a plurality of laminae.

5. A denture attachment for removable bridgework of the type employing sockets to receive the attachment, comprising a central leaf, a lamina integrally formed on each opposite edge of the central leaf and bendable toward and from the central leaf to produce an attachment capable of enlargement to secure a tight socket fit, and a shank made integral with one of leaves by which the attachment is anchored to a bridge.

6. A denture attachment comprising a rectangular piece of metal forming an attachment head, a plane of cleavage formed from one edge and extending partly thru the head and terminating short of the opposite edge,

a second plane of cleavage formed in the head beginning in the edge thereof adjacent the termination of the first named plane of cleavage and extending across the metal piece and terminating short of the adjacent edge, the two aforesaid cleavage planes thus producing a number of parallel laminae which may be bent or expanded one on the other to make the metal head thicker in structure with the opposite outside head surfaces remaining parallel, and a shank attached to the head whereby the attachment is anchored to a bridge.

7. Improvements in removable bridgework, comprising in combination a bridge member to fill a blank tooth space, a shank anchored to each end of the bridge member, a rectangular shaped metal head joined to the shanks, a socket made in pier teeth abutting the bridge ends and adapted to receive the heads of the bridge, said heads be-. ing out along parallel planes of cleavage starting at opposite edges of the head and each plane terminating short of the edge of the head to produce a central laminae having leaves formed integral with the opposite edges thereof to produce an attachment with parallel surfaces adjustable to fit the sockets.

8. In an artificial denture of the type described, an attaching assemblage consisting of a socket member, and a projection adapted to be removably inserted in said socket member, one of which is attached to an anchorage and the other to a bridge portion, said projection comprising a flange and a resilient zigzag like portion.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiiX my name at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, State of California, this 31st day of March, 1921.

ISIDORE STERN. 

